Lee Jun-seok Blocks Democratic Party's No-Nomination Reform Wave: "People Power Party's Nomination Policy Remains Unchanged"

"Sudden Change, Will It Really Be Accepted Within the Democratic Party?"

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, is announcing his position on the pardon of former President Park Geun-hye at the National Assembly on the 24th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Naju-seok and Park Joon-yi] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, expressed that there is no change in his position regarding the party nominations for the by-elections for National Assembly seats in Seoul Seocho-gap and Daegu Jung·Nam-gu, which will be held alongside the presidential election. The Democratic Party raised doubts about the feasibility of their reform card, including not nominating candidates for the Jongno by-election, and the People Power Party moved to block the fallout by insisting they should also refrain from nominating candidates.

In a radio interview on the 26th, Lee explained regarding the party’s responsibility for the by-elections triggered by the resignation of People Power Party lawmakers in Seoul Seocho-gap and Daegu Jung·Nam-gu, "Our nomination policy will remain unchanged," adding, "In the cases of former lawmakers Kwak Sang-do and Yoon Hee-sook, there was no way for the party to know in advance before the nominations." He indicated that it is difficult to find any part of the nomination process for which the party should be held accountable.

Regarding the Democratic Party’s declaration of no nominations, Lee said, "According to Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil, there was immediate backlash within the party. It is doubtful whether the promise will be kept, and if they were going to do it, it should have been done earlier," expressing skepticism about whether such sudden changes would be accepted within the Democratic Party.

Furthermore, on the recent attempts by the Democratic Party and presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung to regain support through change, Lee commented, "The sudden reversal in the candidate’s attitude recently is likely to confuse voters," and criticized, "The candidate has shown a sharp demeanor rather than empathy for others’ pain, but now suddenly appeals to grievances, perhaps because he feels disadvantaged in the election process." Lee added, "I don’t understand why he sheds tears at Seongnam City Hall or says things like ‘If I lose the election, I might go to prison.’"

Lee also expressed confidence that the rising approval ratings of People Power Party leader Yoon Seok-youl have "gotten on track." He said, "I believe we are in the process of recovering support that had shifted to Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party," and predicted, "Once we recover the support temporarily gained by candidate Ahn, the growth will then slow down." Regarding the injunction request filed by Ahn’s side to ban a one-on-one TV debate, Lee said, "I don’t understand why Ahn is so obsessed when he has never benefited from TV debates," and added, "Ahn, who has consistently relied on false equivalence and political rhetoric, is not expected to play a major role in TV debates focused on policies and visions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.